María Echezarreta - English Version

Maria Echezarreta Fernandez (Cheza) is a young footballer at NC State Wolfpack. María started playing when she was 4 years old in her school’s team, San Fernando. Her sporting debut was in 2011 at CD Femiastur, club in which she reached the first team squad when she was 13. From there she went to play for Oviedo Moderno B where she kept progressing until she reached the first team and afterwards went on to sign for Real Oviedo. In 2018 she went to NMH Atheltic in the US until the 12th of November 2019. On the 24th of July 2019 she announced that she had signed for NC State University and in 2020, from October to December she played for Atlético Madrid B.

Maria has been called up to the Spanish national team squads in younger divisions in various occasions and in 2018 she formed part of the team, playing every minute, that won the European U-19 Championship. Unfortunately due to an injury she missed the European Championship in Scotland the following year.

Today we have the opportunity to get to know María as she tells us about how she started and what her adaptation to football and life in the USA was like.

When did you start playing football and what or who motivated you?

“Honestly I think I was born with it because no one in my family plays football, no one watches football, I don’t watch football and nowadays we still don’t watch football. It honestly tends to bore me. I simply remember that when I was four I was going to a ballet performance and I told the teacher that I wanted to play football. My parents accepted and I started playing football and that’s where I stayed.”

How do you remember your beginnings in football?

“Honestly, it was a bit chaotic as I rem that the first year I wanted to start playing they told me I couldn’t because I was girl and my parents had to argue. Not long after they managed to get me in the school team, at San Fernando, with boys. The year after I remember becoming team captain and all I remember was enjoying myself and that I spent the whole day playing with them in the playground. Every opportunity there was I know I was playing football and I know that my beginnings in football are some of my happiest moments as all I remember was enjoying myself all the time.”

What player inspired you when you were younger?

“Like I’ve told you, I don’t watch football and I still don’t watch it. Now I follow a bit of women’s football but not that much. No one ever inspired me but as I got older I have had two huge references, Ainhoa Tirapu and Maru (Real Oviedo’s ex-goalkeeper). I always had them as an example not only as footballers but also as people because of the way they treat the fans and their teammates. Obviously two of the biggest references I now have are Endler and Paños.”

You have been called up to younger divisions of the Spanish national team in various occasions. What’s playing for the national team like? And, What was your reaction when you where first called up?

“Playing in the national team is always something special. I remember that the first time I was called up I couldn’t believe it. I was really young and for me football was just having fun, I knew I was reaching some level but I don’t know, it felt like one more experience. I remember I was 13 or 14 when I first went and its an honour to represent your country every time you get called up. A lot of doors open up when you go with the national team, it’s another world. Joining that group and representing your country is something very special.”

In 2018 you formed part of the squad that won the European U-19 Championship in Switzerland, How did you experience the tournament? And, What was the feeling in the squad as you faced the final?

“I remember the European Championship as one of the best experiences of my life. I lived the tournament very naturally. It was one of the first tournaments in which I had reached the final phase and I think that getting to play every minute gave me the opportunity to be myself and show who I really am when I feel safe with what I’ve got to do. I don’t know, your simply just calm and the feeling in the squad as we faced the final was that we didn’t have anything to lose and if we had made it that far we couldn’t give up. We knew we were a special group and that we deserved it, we became a family in that championship and we went out to enjoy the moment.”

Was it hard to make the decision to move to the US?

“To be honest it wasn’t that hard for me. I mean it was but at the same time it wasn’t. I have videos of when I was 8 or 10 saying that my dream was to go to the US with a scholarship to pay for my studies and that way get to play. I knew that that was going to happen in my life, I had it planned because I believed that I had to go and form myself as a person and as a player in a different environment to come back even stronger. Honestly, it was a key moment as I had just lost the playoffs to first division and had great offers but I knew it was an opportunity I had to take and that I wasn’t ever going to have another opportunity like this in life so I took it.”

How hard was it to adapt to life in the US?

“Adapting to life in the US is continuous. I have been in four or three teams and players tend to constantly rotate here. The food is different, time zone is different it’s a continuous adaptation and every time I go back home I have to re-adapt. Everyday I discover something new so lets just say I go day by day. I tend to say, day has passed now onto the next one.”

This year you were in the “Top 100 Freshmen List”, How did you feel when you found out you were on this list?

“I personally think that being on the Top 100 Freshmen list was something fascinating as it was the first time I ever managed to finally play for my team and we had only played seven games when the list came out and everyone else on the list had played in the past. I looked at the results and there were players that had payed up to 22 games and we hadn’t played against any of the best teams this season as we are in the middle of a team reform therefore it’s complicated. What fascinated me the most was reaching that list knowing that I’m not at my best. I’m currently getting there but I still have a lot to show and that way I can achieve great things.”

In 2020 you played for Atlético Madrid, How was your time at the club? And, How does it feel to play for a team like Atlético?

“My time at Atlético was a unique experience, after two years in the US it was incredible. I don’t even know how to describe it, coming back to a Spanish team and playing a style of football that I enjoy more as it’s how I was brought up and getting to train with great goalkeepers like Lindahl and Pauline (who are from a really high category) was incredible. They reminded me that that’s where I want to get to but at the end of the day they are 10 and 20 years older and I still have a lot to go through. I just simply knew what it was like to defend those colours at high standards.”

What physical and technical differences have you felt between football in the US and football in Spain?

“In the US it’s very physical, one of my objectives when I came here was to learn to look after myself and strengthen myself physically as at the end of the day that is what allows you to play for many years without injury’s. I wanted to learn from the wines that have for a long time been world champions, I wanted to learn from the best players and from their academy’s but yes football in Spain is much more technical. It’s a style of game that requires you to think more. That’s the biggest difference and the only thing I hope for in the future is to fuse both of these styles of football and turn into that player.”

Do you think you’ll play in Spain again one day?

“Yes, I am 100% going to go back. When? I couldn’t tell you as I don’t even know myself but I will go back to Spain and I will go back for my desired debut in the Primera Iberdrola as I am still to do that. I know I have offers around Spain and I constantly rethink my time in the US depending on the offers and opportunity they can give me, but yes, I will go back I just don’t know when.”

What’s your goal both personally and in football?

“In football I want to be one of the best in the world, that’s obvious. I think that my ambition to stay at the same level after everything I went through here in the US shows my determination but what I most want to do personally is travel the world and form myself as a person and I just simply want to be someone. I would like to be someone that the new generations can look up to because I have decided to follow my dreams, dreams that I had since I was young and that no one believed, but I also want to prove that it is possible to reach a professional level enjoying your teenage life.”

How difficult can it be to combine football with studies?

“Combining studies and football isn’t easy. It’s not easy especially spending the time I spend training. I probably spend around five hours daily between physios, training, personal training, gym and then classes. At the end of the day I like football and I like my classes. I like to know the why of things and although I never like revising for exams I do enjoy learning. Whoever wants to can and if you want to take time out you will so it is possible, it doesn’t matter how much you train or the grades you want to get.”

What is the best thing football has given you?

“The best thing football has given me is experience. I think that football has formed me into the person I am now. I don’t know whether its luckily or unluckily but football has given me many blows and that has taught me lots of things about life. I has clearly shown me what I want, who I want in my life and who I don’t want. What I appreciated the most from football is who I have become, the person I am with the character and personality that I show.

I want to thank Maria for agreeing to do this interview. From Info Fút I want to wish her the best of luck in the great career she has ahead of her and we hope to see her debut in the Primera Iberdrola some day.

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